“Yes I do, I think the New York Giants will be in the playoffs,” linebacker Brandon Short said yesterday.

Short was one of the few players who dared to venture out from behind closed doors after Sunday’s 36-22 ambush by the Eagles dropped the Giants to 7-7 with their fifth loss in the past six games. For weeks, as the Giants have staggered to the finish and not at all resembled a team fit for the postseason, they were able to find solace in the knowledge that at least they controlled their own destiny. Win and they’re in.

Au contraire.

Sometime yesterday morning, word came down from the Elias Sports Bureau that the information the Giants were circulating about their playoff chances was incorrect. Coach Tom Coughlin was alerted that two wins will not guarantee his team an NFC wild card spot; that the Giants could beat the Saints on Sunday and the Redskins in Washington on Dec. 30 and still miss out based on a three-way tiebreaker with the Eagles and Falcons. It remains more likely that if the Giants finish 9-7 they will get in, and they also could squeeze in at 8-8. There is an even more remote possibility they could become the first 7-9 team ever to qualify for the playoffs.

The Giants cannot be eliminated with a loss on Sunday, but with a victory over the Saints they can clinch a playoff spot by having four other games go their way.

Of course, if the Giants continue playing just well enough to lose, this all will be moot and they will go quietly into the offseason.

“It doesn’t change anything,” quarterback Eli Manning said of the revised formula for playoff inclusion. “We have to handle our business, that’s all we can do, that’s all we can worry about. We got to win two games to give us a shot at the playoffs. That’s the best we can do at this time. Hopefully that will be enough.”

Asked if he thinks the Giants will make it, Manning said: “I think we have the ability, we have the opportunity to and that’s all you can ask for.”

Actually, you can ask for a lot more.

Instead of focusing on how many victories the Giants need, Coughlin said he’s far more concerned about the improvement his team needs to make, in a hurry. What seemed to disturb Coughlin more than anything was the way the Giants continue to turn something bad into something even worse. The Giants only had five penalties (compared with 12 by the Eagles), but every one seemed to be damaging. Manning held on to the ball too long on a late-game blitz, but instead of a short gain or even an incomplete pass, the ball was intercepted by defensive end Trent Cole and returned for the crushing touchdown.

“That is something that’s kind of stuck in my craw all year long, the inability to take a bad situation and fight your way out of it, but rather create a worse situation,” Coughlin said.

Sure enough, the Giants have not been able to confront adversity and push it aside, which is why they are in the predicament they are in. The Saints (9-5) are coming off a surprising 16-10 loss to the Redskins in New Orleans, but have clinched the NFC South title. That doesn’t mean the explosive Saints, coached by former Giants assistant Sean Payton, will be unmotivated. They are gunning for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and can get it if they beat the Giants and the Cowboys lose to the Eagles on Monday night.

This is all either compelling or pathetic, depending on one’s view of a 7-7 team fighting for its playoff life.

“It isn’t a dire, dire situation,” Short insisted, but he would not change “think” to “guarantee” when it came to his belief in making the playoffs.

“I’m not Jim Fassel; I’m not putting all my chips in; I’m not doing anything like that, no way,” Short said. “Not a chance. But I’m confident in our team, even if we’re not in control of our own destiny.”

GIANTS PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

The Giants do not control their own destiny. If they win their final two games (vs. the Saints and at Washington) they would NOT make the playoffs if the following all happens:

* The Falcons beat the Panthers on Sunday in Atlanta.

* The Eagles beat the Cowboys on Monday in Dallas.

* The Eagles lose to the Falcons on Dec. 31 in Philadelphia.

* The Cowboys beat the Lions on Dec. 31 in Dallas. The Giants, Eagles and Falcons would all be 9-7. To determine the two NFC wild card teams, the three-way tie must be broken first within the division. The Eagles would own the tie-breaker over the Giants based on a better NFC East record (5-1 vs. 4-2). The Falcons, who beat the

Eagles, would own the tie-breaker over the Eagles and get the No. 5 seed. The Eagles would get the No. 6 seed ahead of the Giants. The Giants can make the playoffs at 8-8 and have a slight chance to get in at 7-9. The Giants can clinch a playoff berth this weekend with:

* A victory over the Saints plus losses by the Vikings and Falcons and victories by the Eagles and Seahawks.

or

* A victory over the Saints plus losses by the Vikings, Falcons and 49ers and a victory by the Eagles.